AAIController

class AIModule Blueprint Since 4.0

Inherits: UObjectBase › UObjectBaseUtility › UObject › AActor › AController › AAIController

#include "AIController.h"

Description

The base controller class for AI-driven pawns. Manages a Behavior Tree, Blackboard, and perception system for autonomous NPCs.

Caveats & Gotchas

• AAIController is created automatically when an AI pawn is spawned if AIControllerClass is set. You rarely instantiate it directly.
• GetBlackboardComponent() returns null until UseBlackboard() or RunBehaviorTree() has been called.
• AI logic only starts on possess if bStartAILogicOnPossess is true (default false).

Example

Run a behavior tree from BeginPlay C++

void AMyAIController::BeginPlay()
{
    Super::BeginPlay();
    RunBehaviorTree(MyBehaviorTree);
}

Functions (69)

Lifecycle 4 Components 5 Navigation 26 Utility 1 AI 3 Debug 5 Focus 11 Gameplay Tasks 7 Perception 3 Tasks 2 Teams 2

Lifecycle

4 ▼

Access	Type	Name	Description
public	function	AAIController::Tick	Called every frame.
public	function	AAIController::Reset	Called when the game is reset (e.
public	function	AAIController::PostInitializeComponents	Called after all components are initialized.
public	function	AAIController::PostRegisterAllComponents	Called after all components have been registered with the world.

Components

5 ▼

Access	Type	Name	Description
public	function	AAIController::GetBlackboardComponent	Returns the Blackboard component associated with this controller, or null if UseBlackboard has not been called.
public	function	AAIController::GetBrainComponent	Returns the UBrainComponent currently driving this controller's AI logic, or null if none is active.
public	function	AAIController::GetGameplayTasksComponent	Returns the cached UGameplayTasksComponent for this controller, used to manage and run UGameplayTask instances.
public	function	AAIController::GetPerceptionComponent	Returns the UAIPerceptionComponent attached to this controller, satisfying the IAIPerceptionListenerInterface contract.
public	function	AAIController::SetPerceptionComponent	Assigns an existing UAIPerceptionComponent to this controller, replacing the default one.

Navigation

26 ▼

Access	Type	Name	Description
public	function	AAIController::GetMoveStatus	Returns the current movement state of the PathFollowingComponent — Idle, Waiting, Paused, or Moving.
public	function	AAIController::IsFollowingAPath	Returns true if the PathFollowingComponent currently has an active path being followed.
public	function	AAIController::MoveToActor	Commands the AI to move toward a specified actor, continuously updating the destination as the goal moves.
public	function	AAIController::MoveToLocation	Commands the AI to navigate to a fixed world-space location.
public	function	AAIController::StopMovement	Immediately aborts any active move request and stops path following.
public	function	AAIController::GetCurrentMoveRequestID	Returns the FAIRequestID of the movement request currently being processed by the PathFollowingComponent.
public	function	AAIController::GetDefaultNavigationFilterClass	Returns the navigation query filter class assigned to this controller.
public	function	AAIController::GetImmediateMoveDestination	Returns the world-space position of the end point of the current path segment being followed.
public	function	AAIController::GetPathFollowingComponent	Returns the PathFollowingComponent subobject responsible for executing movement along a nav path.
public	function	AAIController::HasPartialPath	Returns true if the PathFollowingComponent is currently following a partial path — one that does not reach the actual goal because the destination is unreachable.
public	function	AAIController::MoveTo	The core move dispatch function — builds a path and passes it to the PathFollowingComponent.
public	function	AAIController::OnMoveCompleted	Called by the engine when the current movement request finishes, is aborted, or is blocked.
public	function	AAIController::PauseMove	Temporarily halts the active path-following move without cancelling it, provided the active request ID matches RequestToPause.
public	function	AAIController::RequestMove	Hands an already-computed path to the PathFollowingComponent and starts movement.
public	function	AAIController::ResumeMove	Resumes the last AI-paused move request if its ID matches RequestToResume.
public	function	AAIController::SetMoveBlockDetection	Enables or disables movement block detection on the PathFollowingComponent.
public	function	AAIController::UpdateControlRotation	Updates the controller's control rotation each tick to face the current focal point.
public	function	AAIController::BuildPathfindingQuery	Constructs an FPathFindingQuery from a move request and the current pawn's agent properties.
public	function	AAIController::FindPathForMoveRequest	Executes pathfinding for a move request and stores the resulting path.
public	function	AAIController::GetPathFollowingAgent	Returns a pointer to the IPathFollowingAgentInterface implementation — in practice, the PathFollowingComponent cast to that interface.
public	function	AAIController::PreparePathfinding deprecated	Deprecated since UE 4.
public	function	AAIController::RequestPathAndMove deprecated	Deprecated since UE 4.
public	function	AAIController::SetPathFollowingComponent	Replaces the active PathFollowingComponent with a different one.
public	function	AAIController::ShouldPostponePathUpdates	Returns true when the navigation system should defer recalculating this agent's path.
public	function	AAIController::SuggestTossVelocity	Computes a launch velocity that will arc a projectile from Start to End under gravity at the given speed.
public	function	AAIController — UE_DEPRECATED_FORGAME annotations deprecated	A compiler-warning macro applied to deprecated virtual functions in AAIController.

Utility

1 ▼

Access	Type	Name	Description
public	function	AAIController::SetPawn	Called internally when the controlled pawn changes.

3 ▼

Access	Type	Name	Description
public	function	AAIController::RunBehaviorTree	Starts executing the given Behavior Tree asset on this controller.
public	function	AAIController::UseBlackboard	Binds a Blackboard data asset to this controller, creating a UBlackboardComponent if one does not already exist.
public	function	AAIController::ShouldSyncBlackboardWith	Called by the Blackboard system to determine whether this controller permits data synchronization from another UBlackboardComponent.

Debug

5 ▼

Access	Type	Name	Description
public	function	AAIController::AreAIIgnoringPlayers	Returns whether the global AI-ignore-players flag is currently set.
public	function	AAIController::ToggleAIIgnorePlayers	Toggles a global static flag that makes all AI controllers ignore player pawns.
public	function	AAIController::DisplayDebug	Draws AI-specific debug information (behavior tree state, path, focus, perception) onto the HUD canvas when the 'AI' debug category is active via the `showdebug AI` console command.
public	function	AAIController::GetDebugIcon	Returns the path to the icon texture used when rendering this AI controller in the in-game AI debug display (`showdebug AI`).
public	function	AAIController::GrabDebugSnapshot	Populates a Visual Logger snapshot with the controller's current AI state (path, focus, perception), enabling replay and analysis in the Visual Logger editor tool.

Focus

11 ▼

Access	Type	Name	Description
public	function	AAIController::ClearFocus	Clears the focus actor and focal point for the specified priority slot.
public	function	AAIController::K2_SetFocus	Sets this controller's focus to a specific actor so the pawn continuously rotates toward it each tick.
public	function	AAIController::SetFocalPoint	Sets a world-space position as the focal point at the given priority.
public	function	AAIController::SetFocus	Sets an actor as the AI's focus target at the given priority slot.
public	function	AAIController::GetFocalPoint	Returns the world-space position the controller is currently focused on, resolved across all priority levels.
public	function	AAIController::GetFocalPointOnActor	Returns the world-space point on the given actor that the controller should look at.
public	function	AAIController::GetFocusActor	Returns the actor currently set as this controller's focus target, or null if focus is on a static position or is unset.
public	function	AAIController::K2_ClearFocus	Clears the controller's focus target and focal point at Gameplay priority.
public	function	AAIController::K2_SetFocalPoint	Sets the controller's focus to a fixed world-space position rather than a tracked actor.
public	function	AAIController::GetFocalPointForPriority	Returns the world-space focal point stored at the given priority slot, or FAISystem::InvalidLocation if no focus has been set at that priority.
public	function	AAIController::GetFocusActorForPriority	Returns the actor set as the focus target at the specified priority slot, or nullptr if no actor focus has been assigned at that priority.

Gameplay Tasks

7 ▼

Access	Type	Name	Description
public	function	AAIController::GetGameplayTaskAvatar	Returns the visual/physical avatar for gameplay tasks — the currently possessed pawn.
public	function	AAIController::GetGameplayTaskDefaultPriority	Returns the default priority for gameplay tasks initiated by this AI controller.
public	function	AAIController::GetGameplayTaskOwner	Returns the actor that owns the gameplay task — always the AI controller itself.
public	function	AAIController::OnGameplayTaskActivated	Called when a gameplay task owned by this controller transitions to the active state.
public	function	AAIController::OnGameplayTaskDeactivated	Called when a gameplay task owned by this controller transitions out of the active state, either because it finished, was paused, or was cancelled.
public	function	AAIController::OnGameplayTaskInitialized	Called by the GameplayTasks system when a task owned by this controller is initialized.
public	function	AAIController::OnGameplayTaskResourcesClaimed	Called by the GameplayTasks component whenever resource ownership changes on this controller.

Perception

3 ▼

Access	Type	Name	Description
public	function	AAIController::GetAIPerceptionComponent	Returns the UAIPerceptionComponent attached to this controller.
public	function	AAIController::ActorsPerceptionUpdated	Called by UAIPerceptionComponent when perception of one or more actors changes.
public	function	AAIController::LineOfSightTo	Performs a line-trace from the controller's eye position to the target actor to determine visibility.

Tasks

2 ▼

Access	Type	Name	Description
public	function	AAIController::ClaimTaskResource	Claims a gameplay task resource at the controller level, preventing any GameplayTask from using that resource until it is explicitly released via UnclaimTaskResource.
public	function	AAIController::UnclaimTaskResource	Releases a gameplay task resource previously claimed at the controller level via ClaimTaskResource.

Teams

2 ▼

Access	Type	Name	Description
public	function	AAIController::GetGenericTeamId	Returns the team ID assigned to this AI controller.
public	function	AAIController::SetGenericTeamId	Assigns a team ID to this AI controller, implementing the IGenericTeamAgentInterface.

Properties

Access	Type	Name	Description
public	property	AAIController::BrainComponent	The component responsible for driving this controller's AI logic, typically a UBehaviorTreeComponent.
public	property	AAIController::PerceptionComponent	The perception component that feeds sensory data (sight, hearing, damage) to this controller.
public	property	AAIController::ReceiveMoveCompleted	Multicast delegate fired when the current movement request finishes.

Version History

Introduced in: 4.0

Version	Status	Notes
5.6	stable	—

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